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Third GenerationThe hallmark of sprite-based Pokémon gaming, Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald set you off on an adventure in the watery Hoenn region with tons of diverse Pokémon to discover. Fans of Kanto can reexplore their favorite region in FireRed and LeafGreen. Here you'll find other fans who enjoy talking about the Pokémon, strategy, and techniques to master this generation.

I really hate Fake Pokemon Games once on Amazon I bought Pokemon Sapphire and Ruby from th same seller and what I got was a Fake Sapphire and the worst part of all a Fake FireRed! That's not even Ruby let alone it as a Fake FireRed!

But now I've got got a Real Ruby and Sapphire and I got a refund and he didn't ask me to return them so it all good

I use them just to get the Starter I need to complete my Pokedex in my other games but I don't them anymore and I don't know what to do with them?

I think it's funny how a lot of fake Pokémon games use names that aren't even real titles. Like they are actually original games that are obviously fake. However I just mean fake as in they aren't made by Game Freak. I guess technically they aren't fake because they are original games, but they're using Pokémon so it's still illegal.

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I don't use "uber" Pokémon, I don't calculate stat values, I don't use cheating devices, I don't breed my way to perfection, and I don't care about natures. I catch my Pokemon the way they are, and treat them like individuals instead of brainless drones. If you use this philosophy, copy & paste this into your signature.

I got a fake Emerald. It was completely unplayable, it wouldn't move past the title screen. I was so disappointed, as Emerald is the only one I've never played :'( I wouldn't buy another used Pokemon game online though.

Yeah, I'd never buy a used. Whenever I buy anything from Amazon I always buy it new and make sure it's eligible for Prime shipping, that cuts the cost down and gets the item to you faster, too. Used games are too much of a risk for me although I've never actually gotten one a fake. I've only bought like one used game, though. Doesn't seem worth it to me.

Yeah, I'd never buy a used. Whenever I buy anything from Amazon I always buy it new and make sure it's eligible for Prime shipping, that cuts the cost down and gets the item to you faster, too. Used games are too much of a risk for me although I've never actually gotten one a fake. I've only bought like one used game, though. Doesn't seem worth it to me.

Well, new Gen III games cost hundreds of dollars, are you sure you want to pay that much just to ensure that you don't get a fake?

I know how you feel! I recently bought the '5 Gen III Pokemon game set' off ebay, big mistake! I did get a refund though. I ended up finding a site that did sell genuine retro games (and consoles!) which included all things Pokemon! It's called 'Fully Retro' I bought all my Gen III games off that as well as a couple of GBA SPs and a link cable.

Yeah, I'd never buy a used. Whenever I buy anything from Amazon I always buy it new and make sure it's eligible for Prime shipping, that cuts the cost down and gets the item to you faster, too. Used games are too much of a risk for me although I've never actually gotten one a fake. I've only bought like one used game, though. Doesn't seem worth it to me.

Bootleggers could fake a box and etcetera too and sell it as "new".

I wish the U.S. had some sort of reputable gaming site that only sells legit copies, as I've really been meaning to buy Emerald (I had a bootleg), and FireRed/LeafGreen (I lost my copy of LeafGreen way back) as soon as I got some money saved for it.

I wish the U.S. had some sort of reputable gaming site that only sells legit copies, as I've really been meaning to buy Emerald (I had a bootleg), and FireRed/LeafGreen (I lost my copy of LeafGreen way back) as soon as I got some money saved for it.

I'm a victim for "packaging the whole thing as new genuine",
The moment I took out the Sapphire and Ruby game paks from their boxes,
I knew that something was wrong.
The color of the game paks were red for Ruby and blue for Sapphire,
but was in wrong hue, I know the difference because my classmates had real and legit ones back in the day and my brother's owns a real Japanese Sapphire.

I thought that I might be thinking too much,
so I tested the game myself and then the save file got deleted.
I tried playing up to Slateport, because a patch of water tile near the pier in Slateport will appear glitch-y if the games are fake, from what I know that has something to do with memories.
Finally any Gen IV games will not detect the Pal Park system if the games are fake, and will also delete the save data of the fake games. From these check ups I decided that this is 100% counterfeit.

I'm a victim for "packaging the whole thing as new genuine",
The moment I took out the Sapphire and Ruby game paks from their boxes,
I knew that something was wrong.
The color of the game paks were red for Ruby and blue for Sapphire,
but was in wrong hue, I know the difference because my classmates had real and legit ones back in the day and my brother's owns a real Japanese Sapphire.

I thought that I might be thinking too much,
so I tested the game myself and then the save file got deleted.
I tried playing up to Slateport, because a patch of water tile near the pier in Slateport will appear glitch-y if the games are fake, from what I know that has something to do with memories.
Finally any Gen IV games will not detect the Pal Park system if the games are fake, and will also delete the save data of the fake games. From these check ups I decided that this is 100% counterfeit.

My fake Emerald was also an in-box fake, and when I couldn't get past the E4, my elementary school self was devastated haha. But yeah actually, buying used is a good way to avoid fakes. Like if you pay attention on ebay and watch/read the bootleg game guides/articles, you can easily pick out a majority of the fakes apart just from what the cartridge looks like, let alone the interior and playability which you can test after you buy.

I'm actually very surprised that Nintendo hasn't taken the opportunity for easy money by putting gens. 1-3 up on the 3DS eshop. Of course it would take a bit of work to replace link cable with wifi, and if they wanted to add trading from the gen 3 games to DPPtHGSS (or maybe X and Y?) there would definitely be more work there, but I think the profits would be worth it for them.

Has anyone ever bought a fake Japanese Pokemon game from the internet? I haven't seen anything on YouTube or forums about someone buying a counterfeit Japanese Import because it's always the English games, which drove me to purchase a used Japanese Pokemon FireRed from amazon. The ratings were high and the purchases were in the hundreds, so I assumed it was safe.

I got a fake Leafgreen about two years ago. I could tell it was fake just by looking at it, but it worked and that made me happy... Then I got to the SS Anne and it just stopped.
I don't think I ever got a refund. Probably too late to report it now.

I thankfully bought all my gen III games back when they were released, but gen III being my favorite, it makes me sad that people that missed out on those gens are the ones that get stuck with these fake games. The GBA carts are the easiest and cheapest to fake, which is a shame since apparently a lot of fans dropped out in gen III and then got back into it in gen V, so naturally they wanna see what they missed.

That being said, I don't have any fake games, but I really hate when people end up getting them. Remember y'all, if you're ever going to purchase from a vender online, please don't hesitate to use the Q&A thread here to ask questions and check legitimacy. A lot of fakes can be spotted right from a picture, so yeah. Also know there's a guide in the FAQ to check for fakes, so use your resources.

Thankfully all my 3rd Gen games were legit copies so I didn't have to deal with the issues of fake games, but I do feel sorry for all those members who were unfortunate enough to wind up with fake copies of the games given how easily GBA cartridges can be faked, as stated by Sydian above. Thankfully there are easy ways to detect fakes, such as the guide posted in the FAQ of this very section.

I have a fake Pokémon Emerald cartridge. The sticker on it looks low quality and rather dark and the E rating sticker (a rating system that is not used in my country yet I got it from a local shop) on it looks too bold. The cart itself is green but not translucent like the official. It seems to run fine but the save battery seems to be dead and it cannot save the game; useless.

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